Teen With Brain Tumor Gets Star Treatment At OSU Football Game

Surgeons can't help him, but a trip to the sidelines may have been the best medicine for a young OSU fan's spirits.

He was treated like a star in the stadium at his very first Cowboy football game, but the steps that brought him there made the journey all the more special.

Tristan Schwartz was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in January.

“They looked at me and said, ‘I'm sorry, we can't do anything,'” he said.

It's an illness that's tough to say, so he still looks to his mom, Alison, for help.

"They call it a diffuse infiltrating astrocytoma - it's on the mid-brain of the brain stem," she said.

There are certain realities that come with battling a life-threatening illness at just 13 years old.

“Trust in God and He has a plan for me, whether it's that I'm gonna be able to walk again or not, it's gonna be a good plan,” Tristan said.

The tumor is something his family said they're fighting with treatment and faith.

“God is bigger than inoperable, by far,” said Tristan's mom.

It's in an area of the brain that controls balance signals, so it's slowly limiting Tristan's ability to walk, but it's far from limiting his ability to live.

He's still hunting, playing in band at Cleveland Middle School and is also the newest member of a wheelchair basketball team.

“I've gotta be happy. It's better than being sad all the time,” Tristan said.

One of his happiest days was on the football field Saturday in Stillwater. Tristan was one of seven kids invited to Oklahoma State's Coaches vs. Cancer Special Spectators day for children with life-threatening illnesses.

“We got to go watch the game on the sidelines,” he said. “We got to see the uniforms before the players knew what they were gonna wear that day.”

It essentially gives the kids unlimited access to the stadium.

Tristan and the others made the traditional walk from the Student Union to the field right alongside Coach Mike Gundy and the team. He also had a photo-op with a few pretty cheerleaders.

But the best part, Tristan said, was when he was greeted by one of the players.

“At the end when we sang the alma mater together, when David Glidden ran over to us, that was the coolest part,” he said.

It was also the part that gave the seven children, weak from treatment and hospital stays, a chance to escape a painful reality.

“Oh yeah, yeah, it made me feel strong,” Tristan said.

Tristan is halfway through his chemo treatments with five more to go.

"I've been doing the chemo and it's gotten smaller every time we go," Tristan said. "It could eventually go away, but my MRI will still be a little weird looking."

Tristan's plans are to one day go to OSU, and hopes to either build cars or become a basketball coach.